查理Mitchell: Still passionate about teaching after three decades

It’s been just over three decades since Dr. 查理Mitchell started teaching at 埃尔迈拉大学. It’s a job he has been dedicated to for most of his professional life. 尽管学生的个性和高等教育的格局已经发生了变化, his enthusiasm for teaching has not.

“If I’m not enthusiastic about the material I’m teaching, or I can’t at least fake it, I’m not doing the right thing,” Mitchell said. “我需要证明这对我来说是重要和有趣的，这样至少一些学生可能会以一种好的方式受到感染.”

From a young age, Mitchell has had a passion for education. He was inspired by his father, 一个充满好奇心的热心读者，经常了解不同的话题. 米切尔说，他的父亲从未上过大学，但如果有机会的话，他可能很想上大学.

“I was surrounded by books as a kid,” Mitchell recalled, “and the enthusiasm I picked up from him became my world.”

Starting his undergraduate studies, 先是在芝加哥大学，然后转到马萨诸塞州的威廉姆斯学院读大二, 由于兴趣的不同，米切尔探索了几个不同的专业. However, he ended up settling on Sociology. 这一决定, 他说, 是因为大部分的社会学课程都是在下午上的，他很难早起，早上8点就到教室上课.m.

With a laugh, Mitchell added, “I now teach 8:00 a.m. classes, so it’s kind of payback.”

为了支付大学学费，米切尔在校园酒吧里打了一份勤工俭学的工作. For a year after graduation, he continued to bartend at The Log, 这是一个由学院餐饮服务部门经营的小镇酒吧，也是Alumni之家. His first teaching opportunity, a high school English teaching job, drew him out to a private school in Hawaii. Seeking additional teaching opportunities, 米切尔回到美国，在南加州的克莱蒙特研究生大学攻读硕士学位. 他最初的打算是回到高中任教, but a “very influential advisor” encouraged him to pursue his PhD, and he began considering college teaching jobs as well.

在他的博士研究即将结束时，米切尔收到了mg冰球突破豪华版下载的任教邀请.

“I got lucky, very lucky, to get this job,他说.

Having been a teacher or bartender his entire working life, 米切尔笑着承认，这两个领域“奇怪地相似”.“这些相似之处包括做一个好的倾听者，让人们表达自己，尊重和专注地互动, keeping people entertained, 在给学生他们想要的东西和关注对他们有益的东西之间找到适当的平衡.

当然，调酒课只是米切尔教学风格的一部分. 他感到幸运的是，在他自己的教育历程中，有一些非常有影响力的老师可以从中汲取灵感.

“我学习老师们做的事情，我发现自己不自觉地在课堂上应用这些事情, including writing little quirky things on my students’ papers. In college and graduate school, I think some of my best teachers blended professional, but also personal connections and interactions,” Mitchell said. “他们不只是站在那里讲课的冷漠的人, 然后拿着烟斗和打了补丁的胳膊肘去了教职员休息室. They were human beings and interested in us.”

Jokingly, he added, “At least I thought they were interested in me. They might have been faking it.”

As staffing has changed through the years, 米切尔的职责已经扩展到教授欧洲历史课程, including the French Revolution, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. It’s been a change he has welcomed wholeheartedly.

“有机会在不同的历史时期成长，建立联系，而不是仅仅被归类为‘美国人’，这对我来说非常宝贵，也非常有意义,他说.

对米切尔来说，这份工作最有价值和最有意义的部分可能是听到他对一名学生的教育和在EC的整体经历产生的积极影响. 事实上，他在办公室里放了一个马尼拉文件夹，里面放着笔记和其他纪念品.

“在同学聚会上听到各种各样的学生说，这对我来说仍然是非常温暖和感动的, ‘I’m so happy to see you. You were important,” he shared.

“即使在31年之后——关于教育和高等教育的现状有很多愤世嫉俗、绝望和压力——我仍然可以在一天的大部分时间里说服自己, day after day after day, that it actually matters and it’s worthwhile. 看着满屋子的学生他们和10岁时大不相同, 15, 20年前, I can still say, “是的, 今天早上起床为你们付出一些努力是值得的.“我认为我的原则是，当我不再有这种感觉时，就该回去当调酒师了。.”